A transgender performance artist on a quest to start a family with his partner is among the winners of a career-boosting documentary talent fund led by Netflix.
As part of his film, Krishna Istha interviews hundreds of potential sperm donors live on stage.
Now in its second year, Netflix’s documentary talent fund champions filmmakers from England and Ireland, with five recipients of the £30,000 fund producing a short documentary.
The films, lasting between eight to 12 minutes, will be released on the Netflix YouTube channel.
First Trimester follows London-based transgender performance artist Istha as he interviews sperm donors on stage, asking intimate and probing questions that range from political beliefs to philosophical perspectives.
Other winners of the fund include Reading-based filmmakers Anna Snowball and Abolfazl Talooni who pitched their project Iranian Yellow Pages.
Tucked away in Farsi publications sold on the streets of London are free advertisements, otherwise known as the “Iranian Yellow Pages”.
From former spies to puppeteers looking for love, the project documents the real lives of Iranians who have found a new home in London.
Dublin-based filmmakers Anna Rodgers and Zlata Filipovic also won funding for their documentary Two Mothers, which follows the story of Cathy and her surrogate Ivana.
After losing her baby late in pregnancy, Cathy found a Ukrainian surrogate who safely carried her twins in 2019.
When the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, Cathy brought Ivana and her three children to her hometown of rural Wicklow so that they could begin a new life together.
Other recipients include Caroline Williamson and Troi Lee with Turn Up The Bass, which tells Lee’s story as a deaf DJ and pioneer of the UK’s deaf rave scene.
Olivia Smart’s Black People Can’t Swim will see three people tackle their biggest fear.
Netflix said the fund has been created to “break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers”, providing them with help from experts to realise their documentaries.
As part of the process the winners will undergo “bootcamp” training from specialists at Netflix who will coach and host workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance.
Kate Townsend, of Netflix’s documentary features team, said, “Last year’s fund was a huge success with filmmakers really making the most of the opportunity and springboarding to other projects and even Bafta nominations.
“We are thrilled today to announce our second year cohort who we are sure will also go on to supercharge their careers too.
“The five films we have selected to support, each offer a unique take on the theme of connection.
“From an amazing story about two mothers with a unique bond in Ireland, to uniting communities as part of the deaf rave scene in Hackney, we are very much looking forward to kicking off production on these documentaries and seeing what these filmmakers can achieve.”
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